The Hamilton Family

Arthur L. Hamilton in Portrait and Biographical Record of Franklin County, Ohio

The full biographical sketch as printed, transcribed from the public-domain book. Spelling and wording are the original author’s; a few scanning errors may remain.

ARTHUR L. HAMILTON.

Among the noted residents of Columbus, Ohio, is Arthur L. Hamilton, the subject of this sketch, his long residence and public services as an officer of the State Guards making him conspicuous. He was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, March 14, 1849, and was a son of William and Margaret (Lyons- McAdoo) Hamilton. The paternal grandfather was a native of the state of New York, who was one of the first settlers in Ross county, Ohio, where our subject’s father was born in 1817. He was actively engaged in several lines of business, being a pork-packer, merchant and farmer, building up a large businessi in the shipping of pork, by means of flatboats on the canal to the river, supplying a large southern trade. The grandfather of Arthur L. was a native of Lawrence county, New York. The parents of Colonel Hamilton died at the old home in Chillicothe.

Arthur L. Hamilton spent his boyhood in his native place, receiving the advantages of both common and high school, engaging later in the study of telegraphy in the office of the Western Union, after which he engaged for two years in farming. His appointment asi the chief of the fire department of Chillicothe followed and this responsible position he efficiently filled for nine years. Colonel Hamilton Ijien became a traveling salesman for the

Gutta Percha Rubber Manufacturing Company, of New York city, with terri- tory covering the states of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and a part of Illinois, remaining with this house until 1892, when he entered the adjutant-general’s office as. clerk.

Our subject became a member of the Ohio National Guards as a private in Company A, Sixth Infantry, June 6, 1873; first corporal December 5, 1873; fifth sergeant, February 9, 1874; first sergeant, August 20, 1876; sec- ond lieutenant, August 20, 1877; ^rst lieutenant, February 4, 1878; captain, ‘November 11, 1879; resigned November 4, 1884; commissioned first lieu- tenant and regimental adjutant, January 23, 1885; promoted major, July 9, 1886; captain of Company H, Seventeenth Infantry, July 6, 1892; commis- sioned colonel, September 17, 1892; honorably discharged at the expiration of the term of commission, November 20, 1897; re-commissioned April 21, 1898; in the war with Spain, commissioned colonel of the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry May 30, 1898, and mustered out November 30, 1898.

Retiring from the adjutant-general’s office, Colonel Hamilton became the general agent for the Provident Savings Life Association and has juris- diction over sixteen counties of southern Ohio. His extensive acquaint- ance, coupled with his ability and energy, renders him a very efficient man for this position.

In 1870 Colonel Hamilton married Miss Adele C. Parker, a daughter of Francis S. and Louise J. (Thompson) Parker, old residents of Chillicothe. This union has been blessed with three sons and two daughters : Harry W., the captain of the United States Forty-ninth Volunteer Infantry in the Philippines; Alexander, a clerk in the civil-service department in Washing- ton city; and Oma A., Louise M. and Edward F., at home.

Socially Colonel Hamilton is a Mason of high degree, belonging to blue lodge and chapter, and in the Scottish rite having attained the thirty-third degree. He is greatly esteemed by his fellow workers and has taken the deepest interest in the organization during the many years he has been con- nected with it.

In politics our subject is a Republican of known stability. His long connection with the military organization and his constant promotion cemented many friendships, and in his withdrawal the state lost an able officer.

ELIZABETH (WATTS) BORROR.

One of the well known and highly respected women of Franklin county, Ohio, is Mrs. Elizabeth (Watts) Borror, of Borror’s Corners, Jackson town- ship. Elizabeth Watts was born in the township just mentioned June 23, 1837, a daughter of Josqffi and Lucinda (Barbee) Watts. Her father was born in Franklin county, Ohio, was there reared and educated and was there married. He was a successful farmer, was a Whig in politics and later a Republican, and was a member of the United Brethren church and active in all its work. He died in his forty-second year. His father, also named

Joseph Watts, came quite early to Ohio from the east and was a pioneer in Franklin county and the first hotel keeper on the west side of Columbus. He was a prominent man in his time and died rather suddenly as the result of a kick of a vicious horse. Lucinda Barbee, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was a daughter of Hawes Barbee, an early settler of Franklin county, and died when she was about forty-two years old. Hawes Barbee, who had the experiences of a pioneer farmer in the Ohio woods, was a native of Virginia, and he had six sons and five daughters, all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood.

Joseph and Lucinda (Barbee) Watts had seven children, of whom Mrs. Borror was the first born. Her brothers and sisters were Mary, Emma and Sarah, all of whom are dead; Martha, who married Joseph Lieb and lives in Illinois; Joseph, of Greenville, Illinois; and John, of Columbus, Ohio. She was reared in Jackson township and can tell many amusing incidents connected with her attendance at school in early log school houses. In 1856, at the age of nineteen years, she married Lewis Borror, a native of Jackson township, Franklin county, Ohio, and a son of Absalom Borror, one of the early settlers there. Immediately after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Borror located on the farm in Jackson township, which has been her home for forty- four years and which consists of two hundred and forty-three acres, which together with another farm of one hundred and forty acres, in Pickaway county, she rents advantageously. Mr. Borror, who died in 1869, was a progressive farmer, a stanch Democrat and an active member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church. Mrs. Borror has four children, the following facts concerning whom will be of interest in this connection :

William Milton Borror, now a resident of Columbus, Ohio, married Lucy Breckinridge and has six children named Chloe, Nellie, Edson, Bessie, Edna and Ruth. James Russell Borror married Emma Lane, a member of a prominent family of Pickaway county, and has eight children, named Clarence, Mabel, Goldin, Irvin, Susan, Evert, Mariette and Carrie E. Wat- son A. Borror married Mary Leach, of Shadeville, Franklin county, Ohio, and has children named Ola and Leslie and is living at Columbus. Charles H. Borror married Stella Seeds and lives on his mother’s farm. He was born in this township February 3, 1863, received a good education in local schools and is recognized as a progressive and successful farmer. He has a son named Dwight C.

Source: Portrait and Biographical Record of Franklin County, Ohio. See the original pages at the Internet Archive.